New Mexico health officials: Measles sample detected in Roswell wastewater testing
New Mexico public health officials on Tuesday announced wastewater testing in Roswell had identified a positive sample for measles.
A state health department news release said the June 3 sample result will not impact the number of cases in the state, which requires a diagnosis and often a laboratory confirmation of a sample taken from a person.
The sample comes as part of a wastewater testing initiative NMDOH undertook starting in mid-March, conducting weekly wastewater measles testing in Albuquerque/Bernalillo County, Carlsbad, Chaparral, Deming, Las Cruces, Portales, Rincon, Rio Rancho, Roswell, Santa Fe and the South Central treatment plant in Doña Ana County.
In an interview with Source NM, NMDOH Medical Epidemiologist Dr. Daniel Sosin said the agency is partnering with researchers at Rice University in Houston Texas for that testing.
The wastewater results have limits, and don't reveal when, where or even how many people might have measles. But they do provide warning. In this case, the positive result from Roswell indicates more cases might be coming in Chaves County, NMDOH says. Chaves County 's last measles case was recorded on April 5. As of Tuesday, New Mexico measles infections remain unchanged at 81 cases.
Sosin said the wastewater testing program augments the department's strategies for increasing vaccine availability and contract-tracing known cases, and likened the approach to layers of Swiss cheese.
'If you have enough slices, you cover the holes so cases don't slip through,' Sosin said. 'Wastewater is one more layer that helps us monitor for a condition that we don't expect to see in all parts of the state, but could see and want early recognition for.'
Sosin said measles wastewater testing is better for early detection or asymptomatic spread, and those detections could mean putting area doctors on alert for additional cases.
The major limitation of wastewater surveillance, he said, is the tool is only precise for a general picture and cannot be narrowed further.
'We can't follow up for contact tracing or notifications to reduce ongoing transmission,' Sosin said. 'It's really more of an indicator that [measles] is there and we should be watching more carefully for it.'
Sosin said the best guidance to the public remains the recommendation to get two doses of the vaccine to prevent contracting and spreading the measles. The state says since Feb. 1, 34,210 New Mexicans have received MMR shots.
Measles symptoms can appear one to three weeks after contact with airborne droplets from an infected person's coughs or sneezes. They include fever, cough, red eyes usually followed by a spotted red rash spreading from the head to the body. Measles can be spread in days before and after symptoms emerge.
NMDOH urges any people with symptoms to stay at home and contact the NMDOH Helpline at 1-833-796-8773 for further questions about testing, vaccines or treatment.
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